Key arch flooring



Aug. 17, 1937. A. MENDEZ KEY ARCH FLOORING Filed Jan. 2, 1936 INVENTOR49470 Nendez ATTORN EY Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE KEY ARCH FLOORING Application January 2, 1936, Serial No. 57,208

7 Claims.

This invention deals with improvements in flooring in general and inparticular to improvements in flooring for railway cars.

In constructions as now built a relatively thin plate of metal havingstrengthening corrugations of suitable configuration is covered by aplastic material which will fill the'spaces between corrugations andgive a smooth top surface. A relatively deep corrugation is necessary inorder that the plate have sufi'lcient stiffness, but a deep corrugationrequires more material to fill the spaces and this material adds nothingto the strength of the floor, but due to its weight actually detractsfrom the useful load that can be carried by the floor. It is an objectof this invention, therefore, to provide a strong yet light floor inwhich the amount of plastic material necessary to fill the corrugationsis materially reduced.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a floor unithaving relatively deep corrugations for strength yet which requires asmall amount of flooring material to form a smooth floor.

A yet further object of the invention is the provision of a corrugatedfloor unit having means covering at least a portion of the area of thecorrugations.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a new andimproved floor unit which is lighter and cheaper than presentconstructions.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to one skilledin the art from a study of the following description and accompanyingdrawing in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the improved flooring unit;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the improved floor unit but showing aslightly different type of covering;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view partly in section showing the improvedfloor plate without the floor material;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of filler plate;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modified form of arch filler plate;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a still further modification of the archfiller plate and is similar in purpose to that of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a yet further modification of the archfiller plate, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a modification showing a different form offiller plate.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein like reference charactersrefer to like parts throughout the several views, the floor or baseplate is formed of a sheet of metal 2 having substantially flat ridgeportions 4 alternating with grooves or corrugations having substantiallyflat bottoms 6 connected to the ridge portions by converging side walls8. The grooves or corrugations may be properly termed key grooves or keycorrugations, since the cross-section of each groove is substantiallythe same as the conventional keystone used in masonry and serves thepurpose of locking the floor material and plate together. I

After the floor plate is formed narrow strips of sheet material 10 arecurved or arched in any suitable manner to form a segment of a circlewhose diameter is substantially equal to or greater than the width ofportion 6. The width or chord distance of these arch strips is madegreater than the width of portion 6 in order that the arch strips willhave to be sprung slightly when placed in the grooves so that the edgeportions IE will engage the corners M of the floor ,or base plate andthe strips will be resiliently held in position. The unit is now in thecondition shown in Fig. 3 and is ready for the plastic material 16 whichis placed on the floor plate and by vibration, troweling or other meansforced into the space [8 between the arch strip and the plane throughthe top of the base plate. A flat surface is thus formed upon which morematerial of the same character may be placed as 20 in Fig. 1 or uponwhich material of a different character such as cork 22 may be placed asin Fig. 2.

The volume occupied by the plastic material in the groove may be variedby changing the curvature of the arch strips, but in the instance shownit occupies about one-fourth of the groove volume. The use of the archstrip thus saves threefourths of the plastic material that wouldotherwise be needed to fill the groove, yet leaves sufficient materialto anchor the material to the floor plate. The arch strip will also verymaterially stiffen the assembly for with the plastic material in place asemi-tubular construction is provided which is extremely strong. Due tothe added strength and decreased dead weight it is possible to decreasethe thickness of the metal forming the floor plates and it has beenfound that approximately eight hundred pounds of dead weight may beeliminated in the average passenger car.

Referring now to the various modifications of the arch or filling stripdisclosed in Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive it is seen that the main purpose ofthese is to provide additional anchoring means for the 'plasticmaterial. In the form shown in Fig. 4,

' ing into the arch.

tabs 24 are struck up from the arch strip a sufiicient distance to'allow anchorage of the plastic material yet without danger of thematerial flow- In the form shown in Fig. 5 the edges of the archstripare bent outward as at 28 along the chord'of the arch tospace the archfrom the Walls 8 and thus provide increased space 30 for plasticmaterial. The added volume will not materially affect the weight of theunit but will materially increase the anchorage of the plastic ofrivets36 thus providing an efiective' anchoring means for securing the floorto the plate. In Fig. 7 the arch strip has the central portion pressedinward to provide a key groove 38 having a bottom part 46 and convergingside walls 42 thus providing'a' key groove Within a key groove or whatmay be properly. termed a twin key groove or twin key corrugation.

The filler strip in Fig. 8 is bent in exactly the same manner as themain plate to provide key groove 44 having a bottom portion '46 andconverging side walls 48 adapted to overlap the side walls 8 of the mainplate. in short portions 59 which overlapthe portion 4 of the base plateand hold the strip in position. In .this form also there is a key groovewithin a key groove and it may also be properly termed a. twin groove ortwin corrugation. It is, or course, obvious that instead of forming aplurality of strips that the grooves may be pressed in a plate identicalin appearance to the base plate but. with shallower grooves. 7

Although various forms and arrangements of parts have been specificallydescribed it is'apparent to one skilled in the art that rearrangementsand. modifications may be 'made without departing from the. scope of thefollowing claims which define the invention.

What is claimed is: a

1. A base platefor compositionffioors comprising, a plate having groovespressed therein, and strips sprung into place within said grooves andformingarches for said grooves, said strips covering a substantialvolume of the grooves.

2. A composition floor formed of metal and The walls 48 terminate setplastic material, said metal comprising, a plate having key-shapedgrooves formed there-. in, strips of metal transversely arch shapedwithin said grooves and covering a substantial volume of the grooveswhereby the amount of plastic material necessary to form a smoothsurface a is materially reduced, said strips having projecting portionsforming anchor means for the plas tic material.

3. A composition floor formed of metal and set plastic material, themetal portion of said floor comprising, a plate having recesses formedtherein and strips resiliently held in said recesses and rial in saidrecesses comprising arch-shaped metal members resiliently retained insaid recesses. V

A base plate for composition floors comprising a plate having recessesformed therein of said recess, and constituting arches lor saidrecesses.

6. A base plate for composition floors, compris ing a platehavinggrooves-pressed therein, each.

of said grooves having a base portion and side wall portions, and metalstrips of arch shaped.

cross section within said grooves, the longitudinal edges of said stripsbeing positioned at the junc-. tions of the base portion and the sidewall portions, and being formed with a chord greater in length than thewidth of thebaseportion, whereby said strip when positioned will expandinto locking engagement, 7

7. A base plate for compositionfioors comprising a plate having recessesformed therein, means for supporting plastic material in said recessesALVARO MENDEZ.

